Do you ever just think about dragons? How many different ways we've dreamed them into realities over the years?
A few years ago, my friend Katie started feeding a feral cat who would bring her kittens into Katie's back yard. The next year, mama cat was back with her latest batch of kittens. Same with the following year.
Sometimes, I think about dragons. So on a whim, I thought, "what happens if humans are to the dragon what these feral cats are to Katie?"
Thus was born Gargamax, a dragon who, instead of dining on the family of itinerant humans who make their way into his back yard every spring, he feeds them and befriends them.
I was thrilled when this story was chosen for the latest release in Baubles From Bones. The story will be free to read through this link or you can purchase a digital or physical copy of the whole zine from BFB's Etsy store!
I hope you all enjoy! I think we could all stand to be a little more like Gargamax these days.
Other Story News
Time for the eternal reminders!
- You can order Twisted Trysts, an erotic horror anthology that contains my story A ROTTING CROWN OF BIRCH here.
- You can preorder A Breath of Time, a romantic fantasy anthology that contains my story NOT YET, LITTLE WITCH from your favorite eBook platform or in hardback through this link. I'm a little unsure of when it'll be out as the dates keep changing on the publisher's website. But it should be sometime this spring! I'll send an email again when that one is out, don't worry.
- You can preorder Of Swords and Roses, a romantic fantasy anthology that contains my story SOMETIMES A SWORD IS LIKE A LOVER through your favorite eBook platform or in hardback through this link. Same publisher as the previous one; same caveat about the moving release date except this time, it'll be summer.
I also had my first story acceptance of the year last week: a horror piece written for an anthology last year that wasn't ultimately selected for the table of contents I intended it for. Since that first rejection, it quickly turned into my most submitted and rejected story. Last Wednesday evening I submitted it on a whim to a publisher I found while clicking around; fourteen hours later, I had an offer to publish. That should come out sometime this summer. I won't share anything more formal than this story until I have a signed contract.
There are a lot of rejections that come with being any kind of artist. To submit your writing anywhere, you have to develop a skin of steel. You have to hold fast to the knowledge that a rejection doesn't mean a "fuck you and the story you rode in on" the way it feels when you open that email. The editor might like the story; they just might not like it the way they like other pieces in their pile.
But someone will.
Every acceptance is special; but reminders like this one, that this story might have been told no twenty-nine times still got a "yes" at thirty—this is one that will be a talisman for a long time.
Thank you, as ever, for supporting my writing. I hope spring is a softer time for us all.
Celia
